My friend was looking for a customized varsity jacket because she plans to give it as a gift to her friend’s one-year old son who was currently having a short vacation here in the Philippines.

I saw numerous stalls located in the underpass of Quezon Blvd and C. M. Recto. Most of the shops only accept bulk orders. I did find one who accepts per piece order but it’ll take like a week to have it done.

I went to Cartimar because I did see Graffiti Art Development Cooperative in the net but the numbers indicated there don’t seem to work anymore.

I got excited because they accept per piece order, it only takes 4 days to make them and the price is similar to the others I have checked out.

Wednesday, I came back with my friend. They agreed already with the design, the color, the name, and the like. The jacket costs P700 for a one-year old boy. Kind of pricey but she said it’s going to be worth it. “Perla” and “Ariel” took our order and “Perla” said it will be done on Friday even if “Ariel” was a bit hesitant because he said the customized jackets are made for 4 days but “Perla” was pretty much confident.

Come Friday (the day of the pick-up), I texted them to remind them of our order. The one who replied my message only said “Alin ba yon text ko na wla gray and blue” then I replied “Wala po akong natatanggap na text”. They didn’t reply. But when I said that we are okay with whatever color they have, that was the time we received a text “Okay, Wednesday.” It was a bit annoying because we didn’t receive any text. If they didn’t receive a reply from us, would it hurt if they call us or just ring our phone to check if our phone is working? We let this slip because my friend didn’t need the jacket that urgent and “Ariel” did say it will take them 4 days to finish it.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013, I texted them to remind them again that I will pick-up the jacket. I received a text “Kay Villanueva” then I replied “Opo”. After that, I didn’t receive any message anymore.

When I arrived the shop, “Emily” and “Perla” told me that the person in-charge of sewing the names didn’t go to work. I just don’t understand why didn’t they tell me beforehand. My friend was pretty upset about it but “Emily” said everything will be done tomorrow.

Thursday, I texted again. I received a reply “Ok lang ba wala na buntot hiwahiwalay na lang”. I didn’t understand what she meant so I called her up but she won’t pick-up. Gradually, I assume that the tail she was referring to was the font of the name. I replied “Ok lang basta all capital letters.”

When I arrived there, I was shocked to see that the name wasn’t embroidered. It was heat press. “Emily” even said that “Tinext ko sa’yo yan ah” Really??? I told her “Wala kang sinabing hindi sya naka-burda, ang sabi mo lang walang buntot.” My God, can you imagine the inconvenience this shop has made to us? I can’t understand why they’re like this. She even promised me last time I went there that she will have this embroidered by a different shop if the tailor won’t still go to work. Now she has an alibi that “other shops” won’t accept it because they too have pending orders. That’s BULL!!!! Don’t commit. Is that hard to do? Inform us all the time…don’t wait for us to come to your shop before you tell us that there’s a problem. Was it because we only ordered one piece versus the bulk orders you get from big companies or establishments from Teleperformance and Miriam College? You could’ve told us from the start that you are only accepting bulk orders instead of putting us in this unpleasant situation. Shame on you! You thought you can treat us like this because we just needed one child-size customized jacket?

I hope this blog will reach a lot of people especially to those who would like to order customized jackets and willing to go out of their way going to Recto just to get a lower price. It’s not worth it. I’m telling you. They don’t know how to treat their customers right.

My friend’s there now as I type this blog because they promise us that it’ll be ready at 12 noon. Guess what, it’s still not done. Calling Mr. Exzur Lardizabal, if you’re the owner of Graffiti Art Dev’t Cooperative located in Cartimar, Recto, maybe you want to check your staff there. I don’t think they’re doing a pretty good job.